“The competent authority is not competent”
Davis continues to criticize govt’s response to COVID despite govt’s defense
NASSAU, BAHAMAS — Members of the opposition over the weekend spoke out against recent COVID-related restrictions on Family Islands, particularly in protest of RT-PCR testing they claimed is not feasible for some small island communities.
The comments came as Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis, in his capacity as the competent authority under the COVID emergency powers order, last week first mandated a daily curfew on Andros, the Berry Islands and Cat Island due to a sharp increase in cases on those islands recently.
Later in the week, a statement announced that travelers going to and from Andros and Cat Island must produce a negative RT-PCR test dated no later than within five days of travel, unless they are fully vaccinated.
Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) Leader Philip Brave Davis, who also serves as MP for Rum Cay, Cat Island and San Salvador, and PLP Candidate for Mangrove Cay and South and Central Andros Leon Lundy issued separate statement addressing the matter.
Lundy noted there had been insufficient time for Andros residents to become fully vaccinated as vaccines only just arrived on that island at the end of April.
He also pointed to a lack of laboratory facilities on the island as an impediment to timely processing of RT-PCR test results.
“If a COVID-19 test is done, it must be sent to Nassau to have the results interpreted. This means that for business purposes or even in the event of emergencies, individuals will be forced to wait several days for the turnaround time for the results of the RT-PCR test, which may hinder travel within five days,” he said.
“Moreover, for South Andros (Congo Town) — which only has flights three times per week, this is a frustration that makes travel virtually impossible by placing the travel time out of the approved five-day window.”
Davis echoed those statements, adding: “We advise the prime minister that it makes no sense to impose testing requirements on Family Islanders who have no way to meet those requirements in a timely manner because of a lack of PCR testing or processing facilities.
“Either the government must supply the necessary resources or the government must adjust the requirements. People cannot do that which is impossible to meet the whims of the competent authority.”
In a national address on Sunday, however, Minnis implemented a full 14-day lockdown for Cat Island and North and Central Andros, prohibiting travel entirely and prompting the opposition leader to declare “the competent authority is not competent”.
“Seventeen months into COVID, the prime minister and competent authority of one keeps making the same mistakes,” Davis said.
He slammed the government as “relying too heavily on lockdowns and curfews” instead of on increased testing, which he claimed would be sufficient to stop outbreaks on Family Islands.
“Outbreaks should be met with a very swift deployment of testing and tracing resources; outbreaks on the Family Islands in particular can be stopped by deploying sufficient personnel and resources,” Davis said.
He pledged to fly personnel and “hundreds of testing kits” to Cat Island on Monday, although the lockdown mandates that only essential workers are permitted to travel to that island.
Davis continued: “The government started the vaccination campaign late and continues to lag behind in the region; the programme has been plagued by fits and starts. On numerous Family Islands, including Cat Island, vaccinations did not begin until late April…
“It’s become obvious that over seventeen months, [the competent authority] has failed to deploy testing to stop the virus, failed to consult with and listen to Bahamians and failed to get large numbers of Bahamians vaccinated.”
Minnis has repeatedly defended the emergency measures implemented to mitigate COVID in The Bahamas, and on Sunday said only “the most reckless and heartless” people would oppose such decisions.
